Securities Fraud Lawyers

Investors often ask professionals to handle their investment decisions because they lack the expertise to conduct them on their own. In doing so, people place their trust and money in a broker who has a duty to serve their interests. However, this can result in disastrous consequences if a financial adviser engages in wrongdoing or otherwise betrays the client’s confidence. The experienced stock fraud lawyers at Fitapelli Kurta focus their practice on all aspects of investment fraud and misrepresentation. When you suspect misconduct by your broker, our team of securities fraud lawyers will investigate the specific circumstances of your case and guide you through the process of pursuing recovery from any responsible party.

The founding members of Fitapelli Kurta began their legal careers working at large defense firms, representing investment professionals and organizations before dedicating their energies to serve investors. Now, we use the valuable knowledge gained during that time to help individuals protect their rights against brokers who have acted carelessly or in bad faith. Armed with considerable skill and resources, the securities attorneys at Fitapelli Kurta have earned significant results on behalf of investors across the United States. We have obtained arbitration settlements totaling millions of dollars, among other successes. Our staff is proud of our reputation as aggressive but highly ethical professionals who will fight vigorously to assert the interests of our clients.

Take Legal Action to Protect Your Rights Against Broker Misconduct

Fortunately for investors, the securities industry is generally well-regulated. If you have reason to believe that you have been the victim of fraud or misrepresentation, you likely will have the opportunity to seek justice.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is a federal regulatory and enforcement agency, has set forth guidelines for brokers in conducting investment transactions. These professionals owe their clients a duty of fair dealing, meaning they must disclose certain information, charge prevailing market rates, candidly discuss conflicts of interest, and follow instructions promptly. Furthermore, they must evaluate potential investments according to whether they may be suitable for a client’s particular needs. If these conditions are not met by your investment professional, contact the experienced securities fraud lawyers at Fitapelli Kurta for a case evaluation.

At its core, the fiduciary duty of a broker requires acting in the best interests of the individuals whom they serve. This means that he or she cannot carry out a transaction solely for the purpose of making a commission, or even take that factor into account when advising an investor.

Claims against investment professionals may be brought under either state or federal laws, and they often involve fraud, negligence, or both. To establish a claim for fraud, an individual must show that his or her broker made a knowingly false statement with the intention of inducing reliance. It is also necessary to show that the investor did rely on the statement and suffered losses as a result.

However, you may have a claim even if you are not able to prove the elements of fraud. In this situation, you could still take action against an investment professional who acted carelessly by using a theory of negligence. To succeed as a plaintiff in a negligence claim, an investor must prove that the broker had a duty and breached that duty. Additionally, the plaintiff must show that he or she was harmed by the financial adviser’s breach and incurred damages because of it. In general, the standard to which a broker will be held in a negligence lawsuit is defined as how a reasonably prudent and similarly trained investment professional would behave under the same circumstances.

Consult Lawyers Skilled in Securities Fraud Claims

Choosing an aggressive and experienced securities fraud attorney is vital to recovering your investment losses. If you are concerned that your broker may not have acted in your best interests, you may have a claim. The securities fraud attorneys at Fitapelli Kurta know what goes on inside brokerage firms and use that knowledge in working to pursue favorable outcomes for our clients. From our office in New York, we represent individuals throughout the nation in cases of investment fraud, misrepresentation, and negligence. Call (877) 238-4175 or contact us online to speak one of our legal professionals today.

1Free Case Evaluation Our experienced securities attorneys will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your potential claim during a free “intake call”. During this call, we may ask potential clients to send us certain documentation regarding their claim, including account statements from the brokerage firm at issue. A normal intake call may last between 20 and 45 minutes depending on the complexity of your case.

2Retention Work with Fitapelli Kurta Once we have determined that we will pursue your case and that you are willing to retain Fitapelli Kurta, we will send you our form retainer agreement. This agreement will explain your rights as our client and will detail our contingency fee structure. Under the terms of the agreement, you are not responsible for any attorneys’ fees to Fitapelli Kurta if the firm does not collect anything on your behalf.

3Statement of Claim Our first step in arbitration will be to draft the statement of claim. In arbitration, a document called a “Statement of Claim” is filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA. This document is similar to a “Complaint” filed in court. The statement of claim will contain the basic facts of your case, our theory of liability and our monetary demand on the broker dealer.

4Arbitrators Selection Once your Statement of Claim is filed, both parties rank a list of arbitrators compiled by FINRA. These arbitrators will serve as both judge and jury for your case. During this phase, we will review resumes and prior awards from the pool of arbitrators that were randomly selected by FINRA. Similar to selecting a jury, both sides will have the right to automatically strike certain arbitrators. The remaining arbitrators will be listed in order of preference and submitted to FINRA as our final selection.

5IPHC The IPHC, or initial pre-hearing conference call, is a scheduling call between the attorneys and the appointed arbitration panel where hearing dates and deadlines will be established. The IPHC is typically held three months after the Statement of Claim is filed. FINRA typically selects hearing dates approximately nine months from the IPHC, allowing for a case to be fully adjudicated in 12 to 15 months; however some cases are adjudicated faster or slower depending on various factors.

6Discovery In arbitration, the parties are required to provide each other with certain documents necessary for the prosecution and defense of a case. As a claimant, you will be required to produce your tax returns, account statements and correspondence with the broker dealer. Once your Statement of Claim is filed, we will work with you to gather these documents. Please refer here for our discovery guide, which lists in detail all documents that need to be produced by a claimant.

7Motion Practice Although not required, the FINRA rules permit the parties to engage in limited motion practice. When a party files a motion, they are formally asking the arbitration panel to issue an order. The most common types of motions that are filed in FINRA are motions to compel discovery where one party fails to or refuses to voluntarily cooperate with discovery, as required by the rules.

8Mediation/Settlement As with most court actions, it is often in the parties’ collective interests to attempt to resolve a case amicably without the need for a formal adjudication by the Arbitration Panel. In our experience, there is usually a joint effort by both parties prior to an arbitration hearing to attempt to amicably resolve a case to avoid the cost and inconvenience of a hearing and the uncertainty of the result.

9Pre-Hearing Assuming your case has not settled, the pre-hearing phase is where we work with you and other witnesses to prepare for the arbitration hearing, which is very similar to a trial. We will also prepare all of the other components you will need to win your case including exhibits and draft a pre-hearing brief for the arbitration panel, identifying and summarizing key legal issues in your case.

10Hearing / Award An arbitration hearing is very similar to a trial, however, unlike a trial where there is typically a judge and a jury, the jury and judge of an arbitration hearing is the arbitration panel. The hearing will usually be located near where you lived during the time the dispute arose. Most hearings will last between three and five days, but more complex hearings may take several weeks. Within thirty days of the conclusion of the hearing, the arbitration panel will render its award. The parties then have thirty days to comply with the award.